Valces angrily stormed the bridge. He was in a foul mood. Merinalas's latest report had not boded well for him. Crew members avoided him like the plaugue, which was difficult as the bridge happened to be swarming.

The Aurora was badly damaged. According to the Head Engineer, some kind of "powerful gravitational field" had ripped through the ship. Evidently a new weapon of some kind was in use.

There was no chance the flagship would be in operation anywhere in the next cycle. Valces's hand was forced. The Vanguard had been tracking the Architect pawns for the past twenty-four hours, and the situation was not good.

He contacted the hangar via the comms unit in his helm.

"Prep our three dropships for launch. I am going down to the planet surface. Repeat, planetary excursion in progress."
---Permalink

((Timeskip engage. While our OoMn team was scouting, Merinalas(and, I assume, Kyrynz) have been walking.))

[Merinalas]
The General looked out over the landscape. She had entrusted her engineers to oversee repairs to the Aurora, and-she hoped-it would be in ship-shape condition when she returned. The ice was lessened here: the impact of the Foreshadow, however, had caused a steady rain of ash to fall. *Not the most favorable of conditions, but I will endure...* she thought.

[D'mrali] The lichens were quite less prevalent here, now that they were several kilometers below Spherus Magna's surface. The native Enias used the Mapdisk to open an entrance. Soon, the gate closed behind them. D'mrali felt his heart sink. Not only was a portion of his /blood/ left behind, but they had no apparent method of getting back to where they were before.Permalink

Quoting Killer Quadrapeds The Power Armor Smith
((Timeskip engage. While our OoMn team was scouting, Merinalas(and, I assume, Kyrynz) have been walking.))

[Merinalas]
The General looked out over the landscape. She had entrusted her engineers to oversee repairs to the Aurora, and-she hoped-it would be in ship-shape condition when she returned. The ice was lessened here: the impact of the Foreshadow, however, had caused a steady rain of ash to fall. *Not the most favorable of conditions, but I will endure...* she thought.

[D'mrali] The lichens were quite less prevalent here, now that they were several kilometers below Spherus Magna's surface. The native Enias used the Mapdisk to open an entrance. Soon, the gate closed behind them. D'mrali felt his heart sink. Not only was a portion of his /blood/ left behind, but they had no apparent method of getting back to where they were before.

Merinalas's train of thought was interrpted by the powerful roar of atmospheric engines. She looked up to see three craft drop down through the clouds towards her.

They were all fairly similar. Three arrowheads the size of buildings, each one made up of interlocking white triangles. A shimmering golden orb hung beneath each, like a minature sun.

Merinalas felt a familiar tug on her body as the ships flew over her; seconds later she was dragged through space and onto the bridge, and into Valces's presence.Permalink

Merinalas issued a disgusted moan. She was being summoned by Valces, once more. *I imagine I won't have to start all that again?* She mused doubtfully. It wasn't exactly comfortable, being lifted by the method of gravitational attraction.

((Y'know, I'm going to set up a big, exciting speech-army gathering scene, but I'll have to temporarily control Valces to do it. Permission?))Permalink

Merinalas felt a familiar tug on her body as the ships flew over her; seconds later she was dragged through space and onto the bridge, and into Valces's presence.

[Kyrinz]

Kyrinz opened his eyes, a rough blueprint of a makeshift speeder fresh in his mind, devised by his personally customized mask. But as he turned to bark commands to some of the other Beings working in the area, he spotted Merinalas nearby. As he watched, to his surprise and horror the outlines of her body began to waver and fade. Unaware of the situation, he dashed forward with a shout and grabbed her arm. She stared at him with a look of startled confusion that turned to anger. She had just begun to yell at him when they were both dragged away by Valces' summons.

Kyrinz had just enough time to comprehend the situation and be suitably mortified before he and an enraged Merinalas appeared on the bridge of the lead ship.

*This... Will be bad.*, Kyrinz thought to himself.

((Sorry to butt in, but I figured it would be fun to get some mischief going.))

((Also, my internet has been down for a while. Sorry for the inactivity!))Permalink

((Oh myyy. Forgot about this little group. Been rocking the various Bionicle TBRPGs around the internets, so I may be sort of on-and-off in these times.))

Valces looked at Kyrinz. "You were not summoned!" He bellowed.

"S-Sir, I caught in the Retriever. It wasn't my fault." Kyrinz explained.
"Only a complete imbecile gets caught in a Retriever when they're not the ones summoned. Well, you'll be helpful in the briefing."

The trio walked through multiple hallways until they emerged at a massive auditorium. Merinalas and Kyrinz took their seats(one officer was absent; Kyrinz filled this space) While Valces moved to a podium at the stages' front.

He began: "Fellows, we have been fighting these atrocities, these-"He clears his throat."-these Bhakari monsters for a number of years now. Today, we embark on the road to Victory. We begin the most daring assassination attempt in the history of civilized life!"

Lieutenant General Caryn pressed some buttons on his section of the table, which caused a large, 3-Dimensional model of the planet to appear in front of them. Valces kept speaking.

"We will make landings here, here, and here," He stated, pointing to several spots in the north pole, which then illuminated themselves and began blinking. "...After which we will move to the large Fortress in the maze. Due to falling ash and an electromagnetic pulse, we have been unable to triangulate the exact position of the ancient structure. However, I assure you, you'll recognize it when you see it. Get inside,find and kill the designated targets. Merinalas?" He said, pointing to the Brigadier-General.

She issued a weak "ahem" and began to speak. "Their names are J'krel and D'mrali, respectively. Little is known about either, but I can tell you from personal experience that this pair is armed, and very, very, very, very dangerous. We know they are in the Fortress, an unusual structure of Arkitekt origin." Some boos from the crowd. "This place is more than likely booby-trapped. Intel has it that D'mrali is using an experimental sonic vibration sword,"

((The one that goes snicker-snack))

"which can cut through almost any organic material. J'krel, we don't exactly know what weapon she's equipped. We do know, from previous encounters, that she has an affinity for firearms and teleportation." She stopped.

Valces picked up where she left off. "You are all trained to kill the beasts. Briefing concluded." Several minutes later, 150 Imperial dropships took off for Spherus Magna."Permalink

We begin the most daring assassination attempt in the history of civilized life!...Their names are J'krel and D'mrali, respectively."

((KQTPAS I thought we were friends! You put a price on my char.s head! I feel so betrayed! "overdramatic sniffle". :P Now that I got ridiculousness out of my system. darn. A price on my char.s head. gonna have to be careful))Permalink

Quoting vulcan the volcano lord
((KQTPAS I thought we were friends! You put a price on my char.s head! I feel so betrayed! "overdramatic sniffle". :P Now that I got ridiculousness out of my system. darn. A price on my char.s head. gonna have to be careful))

((Yo, I put a price on mah OWN head, bro. Lose-Lose situation. :P))Permalink

((sir in my experiance, the only people who put a price on their own heads are imbeciles, trying to kill themselves in a way that blames others or alternate universe versions of the person the want keeled))Permalink

Quoting vulcan the volcano lord
((sir in my experiance, the only people who put a price on their own heads are imbeciles, trying to kill themselves in a way that blames others or alternate universe versions of the person the want keeled))

Quoting Killer Quadrapeds The Power Armor Smith
((Oh myyy. Forgot about this little group. Been rocking the various Bionicle TBRPGs around the internets, so I may be sort of on-and-off in these times.))

Valces looked at Kyrinz.

"You were not summoned!" He bellowed.

"S-Sir, I caught in the Retriever. It wasn't my fault."

Kyrinz explained. "Only a complete imbecile gets caught in a Retriever when they're not the ones summoned. Well, you'll be helpful in the briefing."

The trio walked through multiple hallways until they emerged at a massive auditorium. Merinalas and Kyrinz took their seats(one officer was absent; Kyrinz filled this space) While Valces moved to a podium at the stages' front.

He began: "Fellows, we have been fighting these atrocities, these-"

He clears his throat.

"-these Bhakari monsters for a number of years now. Today, we embark on the road to Victory. We begin the most daring assassination attempt in the history of civilized life!"

Lieutenant General Caryn pressed some buttons on his section of the table, which caused a large, 3-Dimensional model of the planet to appear in front of them. Valces kept speaking.

"We will make landings here, here, and here," He stated, pointing to several spots in the north pole, which then illuminated themselves and began blinking.. "..After which we will move to the large Fortress in the maze. Due to falling ash and an electromagnetic pulse, we have been unable to triangulate the exact position of the ancient structure.

"However, I assure you, you'll recognize it when you see it. Get inside,find and kill the designated targets. Merinalas?" He said, pointing to the Brigadier-General. She issued a weak "ahem" and began

"Their names are J'krel and D'mrali, respectively. Little is known about either, but I can tell you from personal experience that this pair is armed, and very, very, very, very dangerous.

"We know they are in the Fortress, an unusual structure of Arkitekt origin." Some boos from the crowd. "This place is more than likely booby-trapped. Intel has it that D'mrali is using an experimental sonic vibration sword, which can cut through almost any organic material.

J'krel, we don't exactly know what weapon she's equipped. We do know, from previous encounters, that she has an affinity for firearms and teleportation." She stopped. Valces picked up where she left off.

"You are all trained to kill the beasts. Briefing concluded." Several minutes later, 15 Caelesta dropships took off for Spherus Magna."

((QUADS you're not dead! And neither am I. Just got caught up in the wheels of society.

I've just... rearranged your comment to show you a slightly better format. Doing the whole thing in one great big text wall conffudles those reading it))

Days passed, and no communication reached thre skrall leader. A few basic reports indicated Order agents were migrating towards the Fortress. One exo-toa mechanic-general arrived in a battered, outmoded exo-toa. A Seraphrim assaulter dropped out of the sky with two dozen Tracer elite.

In short, nothing much happened.

Around the seventh hour of the fourth day, nightguard Naizra saw three identical white four-sided arrowhead-shaped craft appear over the horizon. She had excellent eyesight, and could make out the golden spheres hangng below them. She raised the alarm, and as the craft crept towards them at an alarming rate, the Order prepared themselves. A defensive wall was errected; artillery was warmed up, mechanicals prepared.

The craft arrived within the hour, crossing a vast distance in a short space of time.Permalink

((Well, the group died. I don't like it. So, lets get it back on track! First of all, planning time. Where are we going with the story here? I think nobody really knows what their characters are supposed to be doing/what they are going to do to advance the story. So, where are we going with this? How many Order agents/soldiers are in the area? Are the Great Beings just going to come in and burn everything to the ground? Are they going to try to negotiate? If so, how do you guys think the negotiations will turn out? How many Beings are there? How big are their ships? And should there be more/less of them? We need a discussion about where this thing is going, and since I won't be very available in the coming week, I'll start.

1. We need a bit of clarification on the kind of numbers involved here. I mean, it sounds like a battle is about to break out, and it would be great to know those details in order to make things a bit more interesting. Also, how big are those dropships? I'm assuming that they won't be HUGE, but who knows how many soldiers they can hold.

2. What is happening to the peeps in the Fortress? Still not sure about this.

3. What is each character doing? Just to get everybody up to date.

It would be very helpful if people would contribute. I would really like to see this thing through to the end, whenever it may be.))Permalink

Kyrinz was currently trailing behind an absolutely infuriated Merinalas, who was speedwalking towards the nearest teleport unit leading back to Spherus Magna's surface.

He made sure to keep his distance. As soon as the two of them had walked out of the other Beings' lines of sight, she had grabbed him by the throat and slammed him to the floor, telling him in no uncertain terms that if he ever made a fool out of her ever again, she would rip out his throat and tear him limb from limb.

He believed her, too.

And so Kyrinz gave Merinalas a wide berth and focused his attention on what he had just heard in that meeting. Going in for an assassination mission... but in full force? He could understand sending a couple of small strike teams that could reasonably find and terminate both wanted targets with a minimal amount of worry. Strike teams can stay stealthy and keep the locals unaware of any Being activities.

But sending in three dropships full of soldiers? That was bound to catch some attention from the Magnians. There were undoubtedly some among them who would easily mark it as a declaration of war...

Kyrinz swore furiously to himself and picked up his pace to catch up to Merinalas. Things were going downhill swiftly, and this was the last place he wanted to be.

((On a side note, where should Rixicus fit in? I feel like this is right about the time when he should hop into the story and do the whole secret-y resistance-y thing. But where would he recruit people? Maybe he got sent back to the nearest city for shooting at Capries and almost ruining everything.))Permalink

((For my own references))
[Zaariah: Vortixx Lieutenant] Zaariah followed along silently, not certain if his mask of X-Ray vision would prove to be of any use to them as they traveled through the winding passages they had found themselves in. Zar executed a nervous habit of his, forming and dispelling disintegration disks on his Rhotuka spinner, and often checked over his shoulder.

[A'zaiah: Xeno] A'zaiah toiled away on one of the weapons his people had been able to recover from their own ship and watched the the Spherusmagnians scuttle about their camp like vermin exposed to bright lights, yelling orders and setting up defenses for the attack they knew must be coming.

[Ronin: Skrall Leader Caste] Ronin was held in a state of suspended animation in the medical facilities of the Spherusmagnian camp, until more skilled medical personnel were on-sight to deal with his wounds. ((He is effectively out of play until much later.))Permalink

(( I am going to create a new BRC group. this group will open with a contest to get many new people involved. The story will be based on all that has happened in the Tepsta Celetis[see: BRC1] and what has happened here. all Mods of BRC2 will be promoted to ADMIN of BRC3 and it will be all of our responsibility to colect all of the information from all BRC stories, in short, creating an omnibus or bible.))Permalink

Quoting Me ep
(( I am going to create a new BRC group. this group will open with a contest to get many new people involved. The story will be based on all that has happened in the Tepsta Celetis[see: BRC1] and what has happened here. all Mods of BRC2 will be promoted to ADMIN of BRC3 and it will be all of our responsibility to colect all of the information from all BRC stories, in short, creating an omnibus or bible.))

Quoting Me ep
(( I am going to create a new BRC group. this group will open with a contest to get many new people involved. The story will be based on all that has happened in the Tepsta Celetis[see: BRC1] and what has happened here. all Mods of BRC2 will be promoted to ADMIN of BRC3 and it will be all of our responsibility to colect all of the information from all BRC stories, in short, creating an omnibus or bible.))

1. We need a bit of clarification on the kind of numbers involved here. I mean, it sounds like a battle is about to break out, and it would be great to know those details in order to make things a bit more interesting. Also, how big are those dropships? I'm assuming that they won't be HUGE, but who knows how many soldiers they can hold.

Ghaile's numerical (a military assistant with all the statistics of either side to hand), a cold-eyed skeleton of a Ko-matoran had made some calculation as to the distribution of each team.

Needless to say, it did not bode well for them.

The Order ranked with approximately sixty combat-ready personnel, twenty officers of various tangents, six medics, three artillerists and three aeronauts.

To back them up was one hypersonic shuttle with a minimal arsenal of sub-standard repellers, one Seraphim dropship with two sonic cannons, three f'ward repellers and one n-Cordak blaster, and, finally, one magnetic engine, a type of plasma-based artillery, which used a series of magnetic fields to manipulate streams of plasma.

The numerical then produced the capability report from the exo-toa excursion at the crash site.

As far as that was concerned, Gladiator technology revolved around the elements and Kanohi powers. All of the Beings seemed to have access to at least one element, but it was possible, like on previous occasions, that these abilities could be shared. The same applied to the kanohi.

Aside from this, Gladiator technology did not seem to differ much from the Order's experience of Architect equipment: compact and very dangerous.

It was estimated that the Beings flying towards them contained three thousand military personnel.

At least.
---
High above the planet, a hundred thousand miles away from the Fortress, space warped and twisted and spat out a spaceship: a jagged, ten kilometre-long, kilometre wide splinter of dark metal.

And another.

And yet another.

The cavalry had arrived: J'krel's race, the bhakari.

Quoting Dr. Clockhopper

2. What is happening to the peeps in the Fortress? Still not sure about this.

Enias, D'mrali, Kor, Na'vesh, J'krel and Zaariah followed the course of the corridor. Aside from a few twists and turns, the passage seemed to carry straight downwards.

Quoting Dr. Clockhopper

[Zaariah]

Zar ... checked over his shoulder.

He saw a silver figure a few metres away, running towards them from behind, and instantly recognised it it for what it was: a baterra.

He saw a silver figure a few metres away, running towards them from behind, and instantly recognized it it for what it was: a baterra.

Zaar gave a cry of alarm to warn the others and turned toward it, simultaneously firing a previously materialized spinner at it and reaching for his back, seeking to grab and deploy the automated sentry on his back. The device was designed to fire explosive energy bolts like some Rahkshi could. Even if he couldn't, the others would be alerted to the danger.Permalink

This in and of itself was quite odd. The corridor they were walking through was metal and there were six heavily armed individuals tramping along it. There should have been a lot more noise.

Instead, everything seemed... muffled. It made Na'vesh nervous.

It didn't help that everybody else was keeping silent. ((COUGH COUGH))

All of a sudden, Na'vesh's thoughts were interrupted by a shout from behind him. He spun around to find a silver figure charging down the hallway towards them. Eyes flashing, he gathered up his telekinetic powers and prepared for a battle.

((Could we do something with Merinalas on the bridge? I'd like to get Kyrinz on the surface somehow.))Permalink

((Could we do something with Merinalas on the bridge? I'd like to get Kyrinz on the surface somehow.))

((Right you are))

[Valces, Dropship Bridge]

The comms unit whispered in Valces ear, and he scowled, turning to the ship's doorkeeper.

"Get me Merinalas and Kyrinz here! NOW!"

The doorkeeper, as the name implied, was a Being responsible for the doorways on the ship; all doorways contained a transmat field that could link to any other doorway. This made getting about the ship considerably easier, but they needed a single individual to manage them.

There was a shimmer in a doorway leading into the bridge, and a surprised Kyrinz and a slightly annoyed Merinalas stepped through.

Valces folded his arms, speaking to them.

"There are... developments that have caused me to have a change of plan: the bhakari have summoned reinforcements."

His scowl deepened.

"We are now forced to use a less direct method of engagement: diplomacy. The bhakari ships are currently aligned with us. The only option now is for us to gain access to the... Maze."

He adjusted the console in front of him, and Kyrinz felt power surge through him.

"You, Kyrinz, now have access to the form-changing power. Use this to get evade the Order. You will be responsible for disengaging the Maze defenses. You are to capture D'mrali and J'krel - alive, preferably, but dead if it becomes too problematic. It will also be necessary for you to set up a transmat beacon within the Maze for us to... confiscate the technology within.

"Merinalas, you will stay with me and support our diplomatic arrangements."

Valces waved a gauntlet, and Kyrinz felt a horrible sinking feeling as the transmat shimmered around him, and he fell into the crowded silence of a forest.

Kyrinz appeared in the forests of Spherus Magna feeling quite nauseous. Transmats were a distinctly unpleasant form of travel. He had always meant to tinker with the ones on the Aurora to get rid of the feeling, but he had never got around to it.

He looked around and, with a controlled burst of his mask power, repelled himself above the trees to try and catch his bearings. After a quick look he ascertained that he was about 8 kilometers from the Maze.

Focusing, he changed his form to look like a generic toa of air and started walking. He had quite a bit of ground to cover.

((Question: is the form changing actual shapeshifting or is it a more illusion type thing?))Permalink

The makuta wheeled around to see Zaar's pinwheel of energy strike - a baterra! on the chest, and decided to wait for it to take effect.

[Zaariah]

The effects of the energy wheel were immediate, the baterra's chest plate at the point of impact turning to dust, while the energy rippled over its frame. In less than a few seconds, the machine crumbled into a pile of ash on the floor. Zaariah took the turret from his back and slapped it on the ceiling, where it unfolded and deployed fully, clinging to the surface. He put in a few commands and the machine turned, scanning each member of the team to add to its list of friendlies. Another set of commands and it turned back down the hall, ready to fire on anything that followed after them. Even other members of the Order.Permalink